Exploring the spatial belonging of students in higher education

Wong, Billy

doi:10.1080/03075079.2023.2243285

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…There is an urgent need to move away from seeing educational systems as diametric spaces that serve to block, divide, and distance, and toward dynamic, connective, and relational spaces through networks, connections, and flows [3,17]. While such concerns with spaces of belonging also extend to third-level education contexts, and also draw on the work of Lefebvre and Foucault [18], a further wave of an interdisciplinary spatial turn similarly focuses on connective relational spaces but does so from theoretical vantage points somewhat distinct from this first initial spatial turn.…”

Section: The Concentric Spatial Turn: Building From the Initial Spati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Emerging Concentric Spatial Turn for Sustainable Systems: Beyond the Diametric Spatial Frame in Bacon’s View of Humans as Apart from and above the Natural World towards Being-Alongside Nature

Downes

2024

Sustainability

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A spatial turn is increasingly being recognised across education, the humanities, and social sciences to critique Western Cartesian assumptions treating space as either empty or a diametric opposition bringing dualistic splits between reason/emotion and mind/body. Bacon’s vision of human subjugation of nature as a tool for human progress is examined as a diametric spatial projection, where humans are above and apart from nature, in a mirror-image inverted symmetry of above/below hierarchy and side-by-side assumed separation as diametric space. Building on an interdisciplinary synthesis between an aspect of the structural anthropology of Lévi-Strauss, De Beauvoir’s othering, and Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological systems in psychology, allied with a Heideggerian critique of being as needing a mode of ‘being alongside the world’, a shift in experiential and conceptual space is proposed in this conceptual review article for education. This shift is towards a framework of concentric spatial systems of sustainability. Concentric relational spaces of assumed connection and relative openness and away from diametric spaces of splitting and closure have been developed recently for sustainability concerns regarding inclusion in education. This article goes further to interrogate systems of concentric relational space for belonging with and encountering the natural world for environmental sustainability.

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Section: The Concentric Spatial Turn: Building From the Initial Spati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Emerging Concentric Spatial Turn for Sustainable Systems: Beyond the Diametric Spatial Frame in Bacon’s View of Humans as Apart from and above the Natural World towards Being-Alongside Nature

Downes

2024

Sustainability

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“…While the framework was developed to enhance understanding of autistic experiences in healthcare, focusing on space supports greater participation and inclusion in education 23,25 .…”

Section: Insert Figure 2 Herementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research suggests that student experiences of campus environments are far from neutral or uniform, and can reflect and perpetuate social hierarchies and positionalities that favour certain students over others 25,26 . Belonging, shaped by acceptance and support, also depends on social networks, which are crucial for navigating higher education 25 . Social support is critical to students' academic journeys and sense of belonging 27 .…”

Section: Insert Figure 2 Herementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wong 25 proposes spatial belonging as a framework for understanding how to support student Digital Space impacts engagement and accessibility, but can be socially exclusionary for some.…”

Section: Insert Figure 2 Herementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research Question 2: What are the perspectives of autistic students regarding their experience at university? Autistic participants reported multifaceted physical and digital factors which contributed to their experiences of spatial belonging 25 (Wong, 2023) within the university setting. For some students, like P7, the inaccessibility of sensory aspects of physical space pose significant challenges, aligning with the literature's emphasis on sensory within the Autistic SPACE framework 7 .…”

Section: Research Question 1: Experience Of Transition To Higher Educ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Co-Produced Qualitative Exploration of Autistic Experiences at an Irish Higher Education Institution

Neilson,

O'Kelly,

Doyle

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background: This co-produced study explores the experiences of autistic students regarding their transition to and enrolment at an Irish Higher Education Institution (HEI). Autistic student's experiences of belonging, acceptance and support were explored, and the study was collaboratively conducted by autistic and non-autistic researchers at all stages of the research. Methods: A sample of autistic student participants (n=14) took part in flexible semi-structured interviews. Results: The findings of this study reveal diverse experiences across the participants in higher education, emphasising the need for inclusive approaches recognising autistic neurology and differences to support belonging and acceptance in university. The transition experiences for some participants were challenging with a lack of personalised and flexible support leading to anxiety and a lack of predictability. Participants also identified a range of challenges and barriers they experienced while navigating college life. These included learning environments they experienced as hostile due to sensory challenges on campus, a lack of understanding regarding autistic neurology among university staff and peers, inconsistency and inflexible pedagogical approaches used by academic staff, and stringent requirements to access disability support services. These barriers often led to students being unable to access support or choosing not to disclose their autistic status. Participants also found socialising and developing relationships with non-autistic peers challenging but reported that autistic student community groups, such as the neurodivergent society, were a very positive factor in supporting well-being, social acceptance and a sense of belonging. Other supports were specialist support staff, such as the Autism-Friendly coordinator and occupational therapist at student services. Discussion: The study highlights the importance of early guidance, systemic integration, and increased awareness among university staff. It underscores the role of structural support systems like DARE and Autism University Support Coordinators in easing transitions and supporting predictability and acceptance.

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Negotiating access and belonging in a higher education institution: a postqualitative narrative

Whitburn,

Riffo-Salgado

2024

High Educ

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The purpose of this paper is to foreground accessibility as a necessary aspect of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). We go about this by highlighting shared experiences of negotiating institutional ableism together, as a disabled scholar employed at a HEI in the UK, and a non-disabled, culturally and linguistically diverse individual employed to bridge inaccessible spaces. Drawing upon Wong’s (2023) conceptual framework of spatial belonging in higher education, which traverses the intersecting terrain of physical, digital, relational and structural spaces, we develop a postqualitative narrative demonstrating the limitations of narrowly defined legal protections that fall short of implementing inclusive ideals. The narrative draws attention to the ways that ‘access intimacy’, understood as shared commitments to accessibility, develops informally, which excuses HEIs from taking responsibility to institutionalise it. We contemplate accessibility as a relational concern and build an argument for learning from our experiences to inform the development of key accessibility considerations into institutional ways of working and relating to difference. The paper is significant for engaging principles from critical disability studies as conceptual means by which to consider accessibility, and the relational account provided contributes a collaborative perspective frequently experienced but not widely considered in higher education research for strengthening EDI.

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Exploring the spatial belonging of students in higher education

Cited by 4 publications

References 51 publications

An Emerging Concentric Spatial Turn for Sustainable Systems: Beyond the Diametric Spatial Frame in Bacon’s View of Humans as Apart from and above the Natural World towards Being-Alongside Nature

An Emerging Concentric Spatial Turn for Sustainable Systems: Beyond the Diametric Spatial Frame in Bacon’s View of Humans as Apart from and above the Natural World towards Being-Alongside Nature

A Co-Produced Qualitative Exploration of Autistic Experiences at an Irish Higher Education Institution

Negotiating access and belonging in a higher education institution: a postqualitative narrative

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